PARRIS ISLAND, SC, UNITED STATES

12.14.2013

Recruits of Platoon 2018, Fox Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, watch as their drill instructors recite the Drill Instructor Pledge, Dec. 14, 2013, on Parris Island, S.C. As stated in the pledge, the drill instructors promised to train their recruits to the best of their abilities and to not give up on them, even when the recruits may give up on themselves. Fox Company is scheduled to graduate March 7, 2014. Parris Island has been the site of Marine Corps recruit training since Nov. 1, 1915. Today, approximately 20,000 recruits come to Parris Island annually for the chance to become United States Marines by enduring 13 weeks of rigorous, transformative training. Parris Island is home to entry-level enlisted training for 50 percent of males and 100 percent of females in the Marine Corps. (Photos by Lance Cpl. Vaniah Temple)